Matters of opinion that enables me to understand or make some sense of my country- Malaysia

Posts tagged ‘my kad denied’

S. Mahalachime, who in her birth certificate is stated to be the child of V. Kamlla and P. Suburamani, is unable to register for secondary school due to not having an identity card.

Kamlla added that the department had confiscated Mahalachime’s birth certificate supposedly to investigate the matter when they went to the department at the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) two months ago.

“Why should I subject my daughter to testing when she is indeed my flesh and blood?” she asked during a press conference at the Perak DAP headquarters on Wednesday.

PETALING JAYA: A 12-year-old girl and her mother in Perak was told by the National Registration Department (NRD) to undergo a DNA test before getting her a MyKad.

The reason; she looked fairer than her mother.

The mother, V Kamala, 60, told Tamil daily Tamil Nesan that the Perak NRD asked her to undergo a maternity test to prove that she is the biological mother of S Mahalachemi, due to the difference in skin complexion.

“I was shocked when the so called officer asked(me) to do maternity test just because we have different skin colour,” she said.

However, Kamala refused to comply on the matter and questioned NRD on the need for the test when they have all the documents required to apply for a MyKad.

She added that the NRD is deliberately delaying the application for unknown reasons.

“Why would they require us to do a DNA test for a MyKad when my daughter has a valid birth certificate?” Kamala asked.

On the wide age gap between her and Mahalachemi, Kamala said that she gave birth to Mahalachemi when she was 47 years old.

“I was the one who brought the family to the NRD department after the latter seized the daughter’s birth certificate in their previous visit.

“However, we managed to get a new birth certificate for Mahalachemi. During the second visit, the deputy director, known as Premah, told the family to undergo a DNA test before applying for MyKad,” he added.

Sivasubramaniam urged the NRD to issue the MyKad immediately as Mahalachemi would be attending secondary school next year.

IPOH: The 12-year-old girl whose application for a MyKad was rejected two months ago attempted to take her own life following abuse from schoolmates and neighbours.

S. Mahalachime swallowed 10ml of bleach at her home in Buntong on Saturday evening.

Mahalachime’s aunt, M. Logalechumi, 28, said she discovered her niece writhing in pain at the kitchen after taking her bath.

“I tried to force her to vomit by putting my finger into her mouth. I also gave her some assam jawa juice so that she would vomit before rushing her to the hospital,” she told journalists at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital on Sunday.

Buntong assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam said doctor at the hospital were still checking on her condition and declined to comment on her wellbeing.

“The doctor said they would need to get the surgeons to look at her, fearing that there could be complications to her health.

“She could still talk but she is feeling weak,” Sivasubramaniam said.

Mahalachime is unable to register for secondary school because she does not have an identity card.

This will be a classic example of cause and effect, actions and consequences.

Although it will be difficult to point fingers at anybody to blame on but it can serve as clear reminder to government officials to really re examine their actions or procedures in the implementing of their duties. Especially when they are dealing with the public .

To ensure that there are no innocent bystanders who gets dragged in and victimized by overzealousness of officials in the performance of their duties.

It may be understandable that they are duty bound and obligated to do their jobs but it may be prudent for them to really consider the aspects or implications in their execution of their duties in selective cases .

Dubious nature in all fairness has the obligation to be investigated, yet all things considered, like in this instance,there is a direct involvement of a minor , the onus is on them to thread more cautiously. And not cause unnecessary grief or anxiety.

More so when there may be a possibility, however remote , that the minors involved are unwitting victims of circumstances beyond their control. Children are fragile, and innocent of whatever they may be dragged into by adults.

Here you have the specifics of the case as a 12 year old , who probably have been with the family since she was an infant and for all intents and purposes, they are her family , Parents siblings cousins are all there. .All along she has had a birth certificate acknowledging all that,

She is a Malaysian through and through.. She grew up with her Malaysian family, And she has no other world than her very own familial environment..

The official may have doubts as to her genes due to her skin colour but there is absolutely no doubt as to her Malaysian ness. Common sense will conclude that.

And even in the off chance that the official has validity in his doubts.Then what? What will be suggested as a next step. Deport the poor innocent child ? To …Where ?

Deny her the right to be a person with a valid nationality despite her having a birth cert to acknowledged she has been born in this country?

Without proper documents, her right to an education , her right to be a person with a sense of identity of who she is ,, and other priviledges of being a Malaysian citizen is denied, She may be a stateless person, in limbo , all because she was born..through no fault of her own and neither is it a crime..

Why must she be allowed to suffer the consequence of that.?

Why must she be punished ?

She is just 12 years old for Goodness sake. !

That is so cruel to a child who is a complete victim of circumstance. We need to approach this with a slight bit of our humanity to discern a clear solution that feels right to our conscience.

It is galling that this is amidst reading about instant ICs being given free ,or that MyKAds can be allegedly bought and sold for a price.

And then there is the security guard, who is actually a foreigner but who had a MyKad of his own , how he got it, is a question yet to answered, and he ended up shooting a legitimate MyKad citizen of course.

And amongst all these , is this bitterly ironic circumstance, of a 12 year old girl getting so traumatized because things were made so difficult for her to get a MyKad ,when it should have been easy and legitimate , she went on the extreme.

Implications of statelessness.

What are the implications of being stateless for a child? Imagine cannot get an education ,ineligible to receive medical aid that every Malaysian with a MyKad qualifies for, , cannot get a job, (even if you were an adult), no EPF , no scholarships, cannot legally buy a car a house, cannot get legally married, a never ending list of cannots.!

(goodness, you cannot even qualify to be a tax paying law abiding citizen,if you want to)

Even illegal aliens in the country has more rights that she can claim to have, at least if they were to be caught they can be deported and sent back to the country they came from meaning that they have an identity or nationality .

Unlike this poor girl who cannot claim to belong to any particular country because the country she lives in now and where she was born at , denies her the recognition that the birth took place, as if it did not happen, refusing to acknowledge and register her as a citizen by denying her a MyKad, making her a non entity as a person.

It is not like she is in a crime syndicate, or that she is a key figure in a corruption scandal involving NRD.

No laws are broken as far as can be determined, or that any one is asked to look the other way. The papers are in order.

Nobody with good clear conscience will object because .

In the interest of prudence and conscionable thought, it is best served if sometimes, certain things are allowed to just slide pass.